Saturday, September 03, 2016

Smitten Hexagon One

Let the Smitten commence! Here I am being very organised as usual. I have sifted and sifted through my stash, thinking about the first block. You have to make five of these. I spent ages choosing. I sort of chose everything in the end. Another technicolor train crash coming up! I am filled with doubt over my choices so they might well change but you have to start somewhere. I have tried to choose colours from the main pattern fabric where possible. I found @Laura_Zuckerkuss instagram feed very inspirational. Her latest colour palette of pink and peach is so great! She labels all her fabrics so i bought some of the Cotton & Steel fabrics she is currently using. Maybe it will inject me with some subtelty and taste?

Choice 1 – Itsy Bitsy Spider by Heather Ross
These were my Birmingham choices. I really like how bright and sunny they are. I might need a darker purple in there, we'll see. But this is how I plan to start.

Choice 2 – Tigerlily by Heather Ross
I am not sure if the yellow flowers will work well in the small diamond shapes but it is quite nice to keep to the fabric range.

Choice 3 – Catnap by Lizzy House
I picked up this catnap fabric in the bargain bin at Empress Mills, along with the lovely purple grey solid. I think this combo will make a very tasteful block as it is all colours from the main Catnap fabric.

Choice 4 – Medocino by Heather Ross
I've been hoarding this fabric, waiting for the perfect time to use it.

Choice 5 – Unicorn Far Far Away by Heather Ross
I am not totally sure about the pink on the end. I think a plain might go well in here. Maybe a yellow. We'll see.

So those are my fabrics for block 1! There's a bit of a Heather Ross bias going on I know.

I made a colouring in diagram in the hope that it might help me plan out my fabrics better. Already I can see that to achieve that darker frame I might have to rethink some of my choices. It also is good to look at when you are mindlessly sewing the units together.

Here is a link to Sew Lux' sew-a-long. I think the error she is talking about has been corrected, plus she is machine sewing whereas I think we are all not, but it's always good to see what other people have been doing.

I have decided to aim for creating one block a week and see how I go. I have no idea how long they really take. But a slow, easy pace works best for me. I found the Farmer's Wife pace quite gruelling!

So five blocks over the next five weeks. I'll probably change my mind about my fabrics completely as all I seem to do is sift through the Smitten Pinterest board changing my mind! Also there is a Flickr group.

Now I just need to dig out my Marti Mitchell templates and start cutting into my precious fabric! It's birthday weekend here for Penelope so I doubt I will start until that is over as I have to make cake and wrap presents in the evening. Roll on Monday!